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As Russia prepares its people and military for possible nuclear war with the U.S. the American propaganda organs are busy selling the notion that everything is just fine. While Russia has been building fallout shelters for its people the U.S. government has been building FEMA camps for theirs. It just goes to show the prevailing mentality in each of these nations.

The corrupt policies and inept leadership in the U.S. has done everything to create this situation. Unfortunately when the bombs begin to fall it will not be the leadership that pays the price for their failed ideology but the average American citizen. Long before the first bombs arrive the leadership will be whisked away to the safety of underground shelters while the citizens are told to stay calm.

The great terror for the people will not be the sudden blinding flash that vaporizes whole cities but the majority that will survive the bombs only to have to deal with the fallout that follows. Many people think that a nuclear war will mean their instant death but that will only happen for the few at ground zero. What will follow for the rest will be a slow death as radiation slowly destroys them from the inside out due to lack of proper shelters to protect them.

The lucky few that survive this horror will then have to deal with the next problem of finding clean water and food. Anyone that has made it this far has a good chance of survival if they are prepared. Many will say why bother, I would not want to live in a world like this. The thing is, if you do not prepare to survive you will eventually die but it will be slower and increasingly traumatic along the way. You will have to watch your family die a slow death as they dehydrate and starve.

Being located away from military bases and large cities and being upwind of them will greatly increase your chances of survival. At the same time, being underground to some extent will also be helpful. To be effective against fallout a shelter does not have to be a large concrete bunker with all of the amenities. A simple hole in the ground with sufficient overhead cover and some type of air filtration system will get you through the first few weeks that are the most dangerous. This is realistic and possible by the average person with the proper knowledge.

The book Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearny provides a wealth of usable knowledge to help the average person survive the unthinkable. This book can be downloaded online for free so there are no excuses for anyone not to have this valuable information especially in times such as these.

A temporary shelter to protect you from fallout can be as simple as a 3’x6’x12’ hole in the ground lined with plastic and covered with logs and a few feet of dirt. The entrance would need a sealed door of some type and an air pump to remove stale air and moisture. Basic supplies would include food, water, lighting, bedding, medical supplies, a radiation meter and sanitation system. Nuclear War Survival Skills shows you how to supply these items with the least amount of cost. This book provides you with the means to survive many other disasters as well with the same supplies.

We all hope for the best possible outcome in world events but when everything goes terribly wrong we owe it to ourselves and our families to have the means to take care of them even when the worst happens. Every family that can care for itself after an event will provide that much more stability to society in the days following that are crucial to recovery. Even in the worst case scenario there will be survivors. How well you plan will determine if you are one of the few.

It is unfortunate that the vast majority will simply not prepare and wait for FEMA to come to their rescue but that is a foolish action. FEMA’s primary mission is for continuity of government so when the worst happens there will be no serious help coming for the regular people. To aid in your own planning you should have a copy of Nuclear War Survival Skills which you can find with a web search. Here is one site that offers a free download. http://nuclearwarsurvivalskills.com/

If you are reading this then you understand the danger we face or at least want to understand it. The daily assurances by the government and MSM are all that most people need to relieve them of the burden of individual responsibility. Ultimately, the buck stops with you when the welfare of your family is at stake.

In The American Dream Lost I outlined a simple strategy to disaster proof your life if everything falls apart in society. For the benefit of those that have not read it before I will outline the basic strategy here. Time is getting critical and decisions need to be made. The strategy is designed for those with minimal savings to draw on but can be used by those with substantial assets as well.

It does not matter if the emergency is loss of employment, natural disaster, civil unrest or economic collapse. The results are similar. Your ability to care for your family is hampered to some degree and life can become difficult very fast. The credit system we rely on can break down and leave you with few or no resources to continue normal daily living.

As many in the preparedness community have stated many times before, there are certain things you need to have to get by in difficult times when you cannot afford them or possibly find them. Food is universal in all lists but that is not the only critical item to have. Food will keep you fed but there are other environmental conditions that need to be addressed.

Here is a list of critical items you need to have covered no matter what happens.

These are not the only things you should have covered but they are the top of the list.

You need to store enough basic foods to feed your family at least two good meals a day for one year. Three meals a day is better but two is a minimum to prevent starvation and desperation. Basic, inexpensive foods should be emphasized such as flour, cornmeal, beans, rice, oats, pancake mix, cooking oil, powdered milk, canned vegetables, canned fruit, syrup, honey, potato flakes, gravy mix, canned meats and pasta. Cooking essentials should also be included such as granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, pepper, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, cocoa and spices. You also need to store basic household items such as dish soap, washing powder, toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, razors, shaving cream, sponges and scrubbing pads.

Water filtration is essential where water sources are suspect. Either portable filters or countertop models will insure you can maintain good health during difficult times when potable water is not readily available from the usual sources.

Shelter is a critical element and can determine the quality of life of your family over long durations. If you do not fully own your present shelter you are in danger of losing it if you are unable to maintain payments at some future time. Even if you own it the location may present security problems in the future so other alternatives must be available. A good used camper trailer allows you the ability to shelter your family year round and also provides you with mobility when you need it. A good used camper trailer can be found today for under $3,000 dollars and some for much less but you will have to shop around. The sooner you start looking, the more time you will have to find good deals.

Clothing is an essential need of humans. While most people have ample supplies of clothing to get them through several months, it is good to have a backup supply of some basic clothing for each family member just in case the difficulties last longer than expected or you lose most of your clothing due to disaster. You should buy two complete sets of clothing for each family member and store them in your trailer.

Security is important and its relevance depends on your location. Those in a remote area will have fewer security problems than someone in an urban area depending on the disaster and its aftermath. The ability to defend your family is critical depending on events and you need to have a plan and equipment to take care of unfolding situations. If you do not currently own a gun and have limited gun knowledge a pump shotgun and 500 rounds of ammo would be the best thing to start out with. It will provide you with good defensive capabilities and the ability to hunt.

Energy is a critical element and the longer you must care for yourself, the more critical it becomes. You must have the ability to provide conventional energy for short durations and have an energy plan to cover needs for longterm situations. Propane and a generator work well for short term but once you run out of fuel you will suffer. You must have a way to provide alternative energy for your systems regardless of the situation. One good alternative is to build a wood gassifier unit. You can use this to run your generator and your truck. With a sufficient wood supply you can run most of your items for months or even years on locally available wood supplies. Other systems such as solar, wind or wood stoves are good but they are limited to only a few things where a gassifier can be utilized to provide power for most of your energy needs. A combination of these energy systems would be best if you can afford it.

Transportation is critical if you are not in a safe location when everything destabilizes. If you have a camper trailer you will also need something to pull it. Older pickup trucks can be found for under $1,500. When combined with a wood gassifier, you have a transportation system with almost unlimited range when conventional fuel supplies are cut off or unavailable.

Silver is a good commodity to have when the economic system is not functioning as it should. Holding at least $30 dollars in face value of junk silver coins provides you with the ability to buy items when money is scarce or not accepted. It also provides you with a way to save money over the longterm until it is needed. If you have sufficient financial means, larger amounts of gold and silver provide a medium that is easily stored and transported.

With a fully stocked camper trailer and truck, you have the means to get out of harms way very quickly and maintain a reasonable quality of life wherever you go. If you lose your job and home to economic disruptions, it is good to know you can still care for your family properly until you can improve your situation. This is something many people do not think about until it is too late.

Most people like to run things out until they have no resources left to take care of their family. They ignore the threat and then must rely on government assistance to provide the things they need. What happens when you lose everything and there is no government assistance available to you? That is a problem that many will have to deal with in the future and when it happens it will be too late to do things differently. The disinformation coming from multiple sources in the government and media are setting people up for disaster and the people will suffer horribly for it for years to come.

If you have the means to buy a small property in a rural area that you can live on in your trailer that would be ideal but many may not have the resources for that so what can you do? If you live in the city and determine you may need to relocate during some type of disaster you need a preplanned destination. Simply driving around in a collapsing environment will likely end in tragedy.

One thing you might want to do is make friends with a farmer in a rural area. In the event you need to relocate, you may be able to park your trailer on his property in trade for helping him around the farm and keeping an eye on things if the situation deteriorates. If you are already friends with him he is more likely to help you when the time comes.

For those that already have a plan, you are ahead of the curve but for others that have not thought about it this should give you something to think about and begin the process of disaster proofing your life when things go wrong in society. Take this basic plan, adjust it to your needs and abilities and make a plan that works for you. It is your responsibility to care for your family no matter what happens. This is not a responsibility you can farm out to government agencies so get busy now.

When soldiers go out to train, they conduct battle drills. They practice conducting military operations not only to hone their skills but also to teach them to act rather than react to certain situations. They put themselves in situations that they may face in hostile places and under abnormal conditions and circumstances. Soldiers do these drills so much they get tired of doing them but it is all for a reason. In a previous article, I mentioned acting rather than reacting to situations. The reason this is important is because when people are suddenly put under duress, they can easily develop a mental block and freeze. In combat, this can get you and others killed very fast.

Those that live in earthquake zones may feel a quake and instinctively go to a doorway for protection. While driving down the street if someone suddenly pulls out in front of you, you are stepping on the brake before you actually have time to think about it. These are battle drills in a sense. When something happens that you have done many times before, you instinctively act in a certain way and do things without thinking about it. These reactions are your survival instinct kicking in.

The problem is that many people often find themselves in situations they have never contemplated before. When this happens your survival instinct may not have an immediate or proper response to the situation and you will hesitate. Soldiers often find themselves in situations that are abnormal and dangerous so to give themselves an edge, they conduct training to provide the proper responses to those situations. This allows them to instinctively do things without thinking about it.

This is one reason I like to make people think about unusual circumstances. Disasters are hard to plan for mentally because anything can happen. It’s these unexpected things that cause you the most danger. By allowing yourself to explore these possible situations ahead of time, you provide yourself the ability to do certain things instinctively rather than spending critical seconds thinking about what to do. Many have seen doomsday preppers doing a practice bugout on TV. This practice allows them to take immediate actions without wasting valuable time.

In an uncertain world, the more you practice for surreal circumstances, the better your survival instincts will be honed to keep you out of danger. Asteroids, giant tsunamis, super volcanoes and polar shifts are not very likely but they are possible. In the event one of these things starts to happen, would you instinctively do certain things or would you stand in shock wondering what to do? Running into a hostile road block, a rioting mob, police conducting house to house searches, your car breaking down during an evacuation or loosing power are all things we don’t want to have to deal with but someday it might happen.

If you conduct your own type of battle drills now to prepare for unusual circumstances you will give yourself one more tool to stay alive when the time comes. What type of battle drills might you do? If you think self defense may be necessary you might practice hand to hand fighting or clearing a jam or misfire in your weapon. You can do this by placing spent casings in a magazine mixed with live rounds. Can you disassemble your weapon in the dark and put it back together again? Can you dress a wound in the dark?

Can you navigate through the woods in the dark? If you had to suddenly evacuate your home permanently, what would you take? How would you pack your vehicle for maximum storage? How fast can you change a flat tire if someone is after you? Can you move your family in the dark without making a lot of noise? If your primary route is blocked which way would you go? If a tornado struck where would you hide? If flood waters suddenly started flowing into your home what would you do? If your home caught on fire how would everyone get out?

There are so many everyday disasters that can occur, you should plan to deal with some of them during your lifetime. By imagining these things now and walking through your actions, you will have a programmed response to the situation. Investors do research to provide the best decisions to make money. Doing battle drills for everyday emergencies will provide you with the best actions to come through the disaster in the best possible shape. Drills for other than normal circumstances provides you with a knowledge base to draw on when you don’t have time to think.

If you get creative, these drills can be fun for the whole family. An evacuation combined with a planned camping trip. A fire drill combined with a backyard cookout. First aid and land navigation classes at the camp site. The possibilities are endless. Battle drills are a way to develop your knowledge base so you can act instinctively rather than succumbing to indecision when seconds count. This is training that has to be done before you actually need it so now is the time to practice for those unforeseen events so you and your family will not be hampered by indecision at a critical moment.

The following is a repost of an article first published last year. Given the recent destruction in Oklahoma it may be a good time to revisit this subject.

By: Tom Chatham – Author of The American Dream Lost

In every crisis there are three distinct stages that occur to form the complete crisis scenario. Once a crisis occurs, all three stages will be experienced at some level. In preparing for a crisis, you need to be aware of the stages and prepare for each one. A failure to acknowledge any of the stages will cause hardship for those caught up in it. Our ability to foresee danger and take precautionary measures sets us apart from other animals and gives us a distinct advantage when it comes to survivability. We have the ability to create tools and store supplies to see us through the worst of a given situation.

The first stage of any disaster is the pre-crisis interval when a potential crisis becomes suspect. Some will investigate the potential danger further to deduce its’ ramifications on their lives while others will ignore the potential threat in favor of maintaining the status quo so they will not have to face the reality. Many people have a problem facing a reality that suddenly changes and pushes them out of their comfort zone. To acknowledge a threat is to question the sustainability of that comfort zone and the beliefs that the person holds. Those that acknowledge potential threats widen their comfort zones to encompass the threat and they incorporate that into their beliefs so they can accept a changing reality and adapt to it. Once a person accepts a potential threat as real, they determine how best to protect themselves from it and form a defensive plan to deal with it. The defensive measures are dictated by the type of threat and the resources available to the individual. The defensive measures taken act to enhance the persons’ comfort zone and provides mental clarity when reality suddenly changes. This is why some people handle disasters better than others. Their comfort zone already encompasses the new reality and they are able to comprehend what is happening. Those that prepare during a pre-crisis interval are prepared for radical changes in reality.

The second stage of disaster is the unfolding crisis itself. This could be short or long in duration depending on the variables involved. An earthquake is relatively quick while a 1930s style depression is very long. The analysis and preparation one makes prior to an event will determine how well the person gets through the situation. Even without all of the necessary items identified by the prior analysis, a prepared person will fare much better than the unprepared due to the fact that their comfort zone will not have been breeched allowing them to make rational decisions in a timely manner. The preparations made during the pre-crisis interval will lead to successful navigation of the crisis and prepare the individual for the final stage.

The final stage experienced will be the post crisis phase. No matter how bad or long a crisis is, eventually it will end and recovery will begin in some form. A proper evaluation of the potential crisis will provide some insight into what a post crisis reality will require in terms of human and mechanical needs. The recovery effort following a crisis will depend in large part on what preparations were made prior to the crisis to provide infrastructure for the recovery. The failure to plan for a recovery effort will extend the crisis until the necessary situation develops in which recovery can commence. The act of preparation sets the stage for recovery even before the crisis actually happens and can limit how far outside of the comfort zone the crisis extends for unprepared persons. For every person prepared for the crisis, the extent of the crisis will be limited in scope and duration by a proportional amount. Hence, if everyone is prepared for a disaster, the impact will be small and manageable and recovery will be rapid. Many people prepare for disasters but their planning stops at the crisis itself and fails to go beyond it. This can potentially extend the crisis in scale or duration until a majority of the victims learn to move beyond the crisis and define the new reality they will live in.

As an example, you may determine that you are at risk of a tornado strike because of your location. Because of this you decide that building an underground shelter to protect your family is a sensible action so you build one. This is where most planning stops. If you believe your family is in danger then the possibility of loosing your home is very high also. A complete analysis of the potential danger can lead you to a conclusion that you may also lose your home and leave you without the ability to care for your family. Because of this you may decide to build a more robust shelter and equip it with the ability to house your family for several days and provide for all of their needs. Your post crisis planning will limit the hardship you face and aid in recovery.

To prepare successfully for crisis, you must look through to the other side of the disaster and determine how to best mold the new reality that will exist and prepare for the disruptions that are likely to occur. A plan to redefine the limits of a new reality will speed the recovery and prevent the lost, hopeless feelings that usually accompany any serious crisis. A failure to plan for the post crisis reality will leave the new limits to be discovered by trial and error and lead to a chaotic transformation rather than a smooth one.

Many individuals have published lists of the many things you may need or want during an emergency. The following are a few different lists you may want to ponder while making your plans for self sufficiency or disaster.

In a situation when you need to bug out and can only take what you can physically carry, you want to take a seed supply that will give you the most food for the space. A supply of seeds that will feed you year round and will fit in your pocket is ideal.

Tomato

Corn

Squash

Beans

Cucumber

Turnips

Cabbage

Spinach

Carrots

Oats, hulless

Cotton seeds – (clothing production) for permanent relocation

Soapwort seeds – (soap production) for permanent relocation

Sprouting potato – if room and weight permit

Subjects of study

Medical – first aid, CPR, wound management, medicinal herbs

Hand made tools for farming

Butchering and preserving wild game

Homemade filters – for water or air

Building structures using locally available materials

Tanning hides and making cloth

Making charcoal and coke from wood

Making cast iron from iron ore bearing rocks

Making green sand molds

Root cellar storage and dehydrating foods

Fire starting methods

Furniture making and joinery methods

Land navigation and time telling methods

Long term bail-out-bag –

For required long term relocation on foot a dual purpose weapon such as an AR15 with .22LR adapter will allow more ammo capacity.

Anyone that determines a bug out plan may be necessary must also acknowledge that there is the remote possibility you may be forced at some point to relocate on foot with only the items you can carry. A civil breakdown, natural disaster or war could force a permanent relocation to a safe area. In the event this happens you should at least have a list of items you have already designated to carry to enable a fast exit from the area. While many may not see the need there are situations when staying where you are will result in death. If you decide not to develop a walk out plan because you feel you are physically unable to do so, you should reconsider and develop a plan that will work for your situation when the time comes. Time is a critical element when evacuation is necessary and any delay can be deadly. If you had to start over again with only the things you could carry, what would they be? Now is the time to figure that out.

The availability of fuels in society is what literally makes the wheels go around. The U.S. is addicted to petroleum products and we would find it hard to suddenly go without. Our fuel supplies and distribution system are just as fragile as our electrical grid and food supply chain and could be cut off for any number of reasons.

An EMP/CME, war or financial collapse are just some of the situations that could cut our supplies and leave the nation in a very bad situation. Without liquid fuels we won’t get to work, go to the grocery store, grow process and transport food, or mine and transport fuel such as coal to keep the power on. We may not be able to get shipments of goods from overseas such as food, clothing, building materials or oil. The sudden lack of fuel would shut down society as we know it.

In a technologically advanced country it is only prudent to have sufficient backup systems to enable society to continue functioning if a catastrophe should happen. Fuel is one of the linchpins of an advanced society and contingencies should be in place to replace conventional supplies in an emergency.

While we have the ability to create several different types of fuel locally in an emergency, most of them require a feedstock that we must grow and process before they can be used. Fuels such as alcohol and bio-diesel are good for emergencies but will be difficult to acquire in many places such as urban areas where the crops cannot be grown in sufficient quantity to be viable. Even if these fuels were produced in rural areas in quantity, we would still need to use a considerable percentage of the fuel for transport to other areas just as we need to burn petroleum for transport of gas and diesel today. A more widely available source of fuel needs to be used to insure availability in most areas.

The most widely available source of fuel that we have is wood. It can be used in many different ways from wood stoves for heat to producing steam power to producer gas for vehicles and generators. Wood is a versatile fuel that can be used on site in its raw form with little modification and can be procured almost anywhere from locally available sources.

The most prominent use of wood fuel today is for heating. Those that have a wood stove and a supply of wood have the ability to produce heat to stay warm and cook food when other forms of power are not available. These capabilities are tremendous in themselves when times of crisis arrive but with a few additions to your wood burning accessories you can increase your capabilities many times.

A wood gas production unit burns wood in an oxygen starved environment to create a flammable gas that can be used to run most gasoline engines. These units can be of moderate size and provide the fuel needed to run a car or generator when needed. A unit can be attached to the rear of a vehicle to provide power for road use to enable transportation when no liquid fuels are available otherwise. The use on agricultural equipment can assure the continued production of food products to insure a supply of food for the population. Wood chips provide the fuel for the unit and 16 to 20 pounds of wood will equal about one gallon of gasoline. In a fuel emergency this type of unit can help to provide transportation and electricity reducing the hardships you will be facing.

An old truck with a producer gas system can provide you with many capabilities while keeping your investment relatively low. Not only can this vehicle provide you with transportation but with a few additional items, can provide you with a backup power source. The addition of a few deep cycle batteries to the cargo area of the vehicle connected together and connected to the vehicles charging system utilizing a battery isolator, they can be connected to a power inverter to provide AC power to your home in a limited way. This system will allow you to not only have emergency transportation but limited power as well.

As mentioned earlier, a fuel disruption can also cause a power disruption if it continues for very long. This can put you in a very difficult position unless you have sufficient backup systems to provide for your needs. This one system can provide many uses while depending on only one fuel source that is locally available in most cases. In an urban environment where a wood stove and firewood can be used, this system is a logical fit to enhance your resources. Where a wood stove cannot be used, a vehicle equipped with the system outlined can be kept anywhere a typical vehicle can be kept. The amount of wood fuel will be limited but can enable you the ability to relocate when others can not.

An enhanced system where a slide in camper is placed on the truck and battery storage is located under the truck bed and the producer gas system is located on a swingout carrier on the rear bumper can provide you with a portable shelter, transportation and power unit all in one. In an urban environment, a unit such as this can make a prolonged disruption of fuel and power a more survivable event by allowing relocation to a less dangerous area while maintaining a reasonable living standard.

While supplies can be cut off in disasters they can also be cut off on purpose in some cases. A terrorist action targeting production and distribution systems can happen at any time and even the government might cut supplies if they wish to restrict movement by the population in any way. While it is possible to store large quantities of fuel it is also required in many places to notify the local authorities of this storage due to fire regulations which may result in them confiscating your fuel in crisis situations. The storage of wood is not as regulated in many cases and allows the stocking of fuel reserves without much notice from locals.

The ability to restock your fuel supply from multiple sources frees you from the limiting factors placed on society by energy sources, regulations and people in general. A producer gas system will allow you the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities that the general public will not. While others will be reeling from shortages, you will remain mobile and well supplied with power.

The ability to fuel your vehicle may also open up job opportunities during a shortage. Products will still be needed by the population and being able to transport some of those products can earn you a regular income and the ability to provide yourself with free fuel will make you very competitive in the transport market.

Where might you get a supply of wood if you own no woodlot? You can buy it of course in the form of cord wood which can also supply a wood stove. You may be able to get a free supply from neighbors in the form of tree limbs and cuttings. Another source is the many tree cutters that clear the power lines around the nation. They cut and chip truckloads every day and must dispose of the chips somewhere. You may be able to get an ample supply just for asking. Having a few hand tools to cut limbs for fuel from local sources is advisable should you find yourself on the road and in need of fuel in an emergency evacuation.

This fuel source has the ability to replace the current fuels we require and provide unlimited energy for independent homesteads in emergency as well as normal circumstances. The ability to produce local energy on a sustainable basis provides the nation with security in many forms that cannot and should not be dismissed for the sake of convenience. The availability of cheap, renewable energy sources at the local level will be necessary in years to come if our energy situation changes drastically in a negative way.

Many people prepare for emergencies and find their planning has some shortcomings after its all over and sometimes they are better prepared the next time, but how many times do people find themselves in a similar circumstance and realize after it happens that they forgot something. Many times its’ something they identified the last time but forgot to fix it or get one for the next time. It always happens and it does not have to. Many people tend to stop their plan when the emergency is over and go about their lives once again until the next time something happens. A good plan never has a stopping point but continues through all phases of daily life. Your plan should cover pre crisis, crisis and post crisis work. Your post crisis work will insure any deficiencies you noted will not be repeated the next time. This can help alleviate any mental anguish you may feel when an emergency happens. To do an after action review you need to ask yourself some basic questions that apply to your emergency planning. Having a list of questions and room beside each to answer them will help you organize your thoughts and planning. It is a way to track your progress over the course of time to insure you are making progress. Having it written down also helps you to remember things over a long period of time as well. Here are some questions you should keep in mind for emergencies. They are by no means the only questions you may want to answer but they offer you a good starting point if you do not already do this type of review.

Did I have sufficient shelter?

Did I have the proper clothing?

Did I have enough food for the crisis and was it the kind I needed?

Did I have enough water for the crisis?

Did I have the power systems I needed?

Did I have the communication and transportation systems I needed?

Did I have the heating and cooking systems I needed?

Did I have the lighting systems I needed?

Did I have the functioning sanitation systems I needed?

Did I have resources to mitigate or repair damage until the crisis was over?

Did I have the fuel sources I needed?

Did I have the means of self protection I needed?

Did I have the medical resources and medications I needed?

Did I have the refrigeration ability I needed?

Did I come through the crisis in a good physical and mental condition?

What would I have needed if the emergency had lasted much longer?

What planning worked the best during the crisis?

What planning worked the worst during the crisis?

What should I do different the next time?

You should write down the answers to these questions in a brief and usable format so that you can review them from time to time to improve your plan and to insure you fix any shortcomings. This will ensure you do not forget something you identified as a critical shortage for the next emergency. You may even want to write down any problems you discover as they appear so you do not forget them when the emergency is over. It could be something as simple as not having a long enough extension cord or running out of toilet paper. It may be something as critical as your generator stopping after only a few hours, because it was not serviced recently, due to a long duration of non use. In a longer emergency you may decide you need the materials to service your equipment before the crisis is over. Something as simple as leaving the new ethanol type gas in your equipment for a few months can be disastrous to your equipments operation. These are the lessons you need to learn to avoid serious consequences to your well being. You need to work out the problems during the small emergencies so you do not suffer during the long ones when it can be life threatening. Doing a written after action review after each emergency can help you avoid repeating the same mistakes and provide you with confidence when a big crisis unfolds suddenly with little warning.